Melting furnace



Feb'. 17, 1925. 1526,85]

L. HALL MELTING' FUBNAC Filed Nov. 2, 1922 5 Sheets-Shet 2 L.. HALLdELTlNG FURNACE Feb. 17, 1925. 1,526,8 51

Filed Nov. 2, 1922 3 Sheet-Sht 5 B3/ gg Htorney.

Patented Feb. 17, 1925.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.l

LEES HALL, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR T0 ALFREI) W. CI-INN'ING,INC., OF NEW YORK, N, Y-,'A CORIORATION OF NEW YORK.

MELTING FURNAGE.

Application .file November 2, 1922. Serial No. 598,608.

To aZZ 'whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, Lens HALL, a subject of the King of England,residin); at Baltimore, State of Maryland, in the United States, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Melting Furnaces, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in furnaces for melting andrefining such metals as those known as type, stereo, lead, and babbitt,and all metals whatsoever having amelting point below that of aluminum,and which are used in general inclustries. a i i y The objects which Iseek to attain by my invention are to provide (1) an automatic controlfor governing the amount of fuel fed to the burners; (2) means fordirecting the fuel heat Waves around the melting pot and then across thetop of the metal; (3) means for thoroughly mixing' and giving a grindingactionfto the molten metal thereby causing` a homogeneous mass to form;and (4) means for tapping the melting pot at the bottom of same and fordirecting the molten metal to the outside of the furnace. i

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from thefollowing v description when read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings Whereinm Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of 1the entirefurnace. Figure 2 is a sectional elevation `on the line A-B of Figure 1,showing the furnace proper in section, and With an exterior view of theupper structure- Figure 3 is sectional view on the line C-D of Figure 2.i

With. more particular reference to the drawings, wherein similarcharacters of reference denote similar parts in the several views: i i i(i The numeral l denotes a hollow cylindrical main body having in thelower part thereof an opening 2 for the passage of the fuel pipes, aplurality of openings 3 for the admission of air to the fuel burners,and an opening 4 (Fig. 2) for the passage of a pouring spout. At theupper end of said main body 1 the Walls extend outwardly as at 5,thereby forming a pocket or chamber 6 into which is inserted a hollowcylindrical intermediate body 7. In y the lower part of the body 7 are aplurality of openings 8 for the passage of the heat Waves from the fuel'burners. A horizontally outwardly extendng lip 9 (Fig. 2) and verticallyoutWardly extending lips 10 (Fig; 2) are shown at the metal chargingopening in the dome (Fig. 3). Numeral 11 designates an inwardlyextending flange on which rests flange 12 of a bowl shaped melting pot13 having in its bottom'wall 14 an opening for the insertion therein ofa valve seat 15 centrally apertured, as at 16, to receive a valve plugand for the spout 17 which is bolted to the bottom wall `14 of themelting pot 13 by the flange 18.

The. inverted bowl shaped dome 19 eXtends around and beyond the mainbody 1 and is supported by means of the inwardly extending flange 20resting' on the top of the circular Wall 5 of the main body. Thehorizontal intermediate Wall 21 of the dome 19 extends inwarclly so asto deflectv the heat Waves from the fuel burnersv and direct them `overthe top of the molten metal in the melting pot. For charging the furnacethereis provided in the dome a charging opening 22 ('Fig. 2) covered bycharging doors 23 hinged to the dome in the manner shown by F igure 3.

At the top of the side Wall 24 of the V,rotated either by power throughthe pulley 31, fastened to the shaft, or manually by i means of thehand-Wheel 32.

A bevel gear pinion 33 is keyed on one end of the driving shaft 28, andthere operates in mesh with the bevel gears 34 and 35 whichare'separated by the collar 36. Bevel gears 34 -and 35 are secured tothe tubular bodies 37 and 38, respectively, on the bottom end of whichthe mixing propellers 39 and 40 are fastened.

At the bottom of the tubular body 38 and i resting thereon is a ring 41fastened to the body 37. The tubes 37 and 38 have a plurality ofperforations as at 42 and 43, for the passage of the molten metal fromthe melting pot through vthe opening` 16 and to the pouring spout 17.Another function of these perforations is for the passage of the heatfrom the molten metal to surround the regulator rod of the automaticcontrol which governs the amount of fuel to be fed to the fuel burnersbeneath the melting pot 13. Opening 4-4 (Fig. 2) andopening 45 betweenthe propeller blades serve the same purposes as the perforations 42 andTFor tapping the melting pot there is provided a valve rod support 46bolted to the wall' 20 of the dome 19, and having at its lower part ashaft bearing 29 and at its upper part a hub 47. The hub 47 is bored toreceive a valve Operating screw bushing 48 which is interiorly screwthreaded to receive the upper screw threaded end 49 of a tubular valverod 50 which passes down through the bore of the propeller drivingtubular body 37., The walls of the tubular valve rod 50 have holes 51for the passage of the heat from the molten metal to the regulator rodof the automatic fuel supply control and hasin its lower end a valveplug 52 for stopping the flow of the molten metal tov the pouring spout17.

The lever is provided on the upper end of the valve rod 50 to govern theflow of the moltenmetal. On being manually operated in a horizontaldirection', the manipulation of the lever causes the threads 49 of thevalve rod to turn in the screw bushing`48, thereby raising` or loweringthe valve plug 52 from or to its seat 15. e

Regulator 55, supported above the furnaceby the brackets 56 (Fig. 2), isprovided for the purpose of automatically controlling the supply of gasfuel to the burners 54 set beneath the melting pot 14. Any type ofcommercial regulator utilizing the expansion and contraction of a. rodas the agent to open or close the'fu'el passages in the regulator can beused. The regulator rod 57 is shown centrally disp'osed in the bore ofthe valve 'rod l50. The gas fuel is supplied through the 'pipe 58 to theregulatonthen through the 'pipe 59' to the gas' equa-liz'ing cham'ber 60(Fig. 2), from which the' gas is supplied to the burners 54 afterpassing 'sucoessively through' the valves 61, the air Chamber 62 and thepip'es 63', all as shown in Figur'e 2. v w

The furnace is o'perated in the following manner:

The melting pot is charged with cold metal through the charging opening22 in the-dome 19. The'regulator is so adjusted as to lpermit a'flow vofgas to the burners 54 where the fuel isignited, the heat so'producedpassiiig from the burnersto the outer surface of the melting potwhich, on being heated, causes the metal therein to form into a liquidstate. From beneath and around the melting pot, the gases pass throughthe openings 8 and into the anti-oxidation chamber 6, then upwardly andout of the said Chamber until the wall 21 of the dome 10 defiects thegases in a direction across the top of the molten metal. The flue 25 inthe dolne 19 carries the spent gases from the furnace.

The mixing propellers functionto mix the molten metal intoa homogeneousmass. These mixin'g propellers, located in the melting pot, are revolvedby means of power through a belt on the pulley 31, or manually by thehand-wheel 32 fastened to the shaft 28. On being rotated, shaft 28causes the lieyed piiiion to impart contrawise directions of rotation tothe bevel gears 34 and 35, fast'ened to the tubular bodies 37 and 38 onwhich the mixing propellers 39 and 40 are fasteneda The relativepositions of the bevel gears 34 and 35 to each other Will be given acontra-Wise direction of r'ot'ation by the bevel gear pinion 33 and willthereby cause the mixing propellers 39 and 40 to revolve in oppo'sitedirec'tions. The design of the propeller 39 in such as to cause it tolift the molten metal and at the same time push it around and toward the'cei'itei" of the pot 13. The propeller 40 is designed to push themolten metal down again toward the lower propeller 39, and in a;directi'on out- Ward of its plane ofl rotation.

For tapping the melting' pot, the lever 53, attached to the upper end ofthe valve rod 50, is turned in a horizontal direction which causes thevalve plug 52 to be raised from its seat by means of the screw thread 49on the valve rod turning in the Vsc'rew threaded'bushing 48. 7he'n thevalve plug 52 is raised, the molten metal passes through the openings inthe prop'eller tubular bodiesand into the opening 16 to the pouringspout 17 where theA metal can be directed to' the exterior 'of thefurnace and into moulds.

Vhen gas fuel is used as a heating agency, the supply thereof iscon'tro'lled byv inserting the regulator rod 57 of the automatic fuelcontrol through the bore of the valve rod 50. The molten metal passesthrough openings 51 of the valverod and surrounds the rod 57, causingthe same to expand or contract, according to the heat temperature,thereby opening or closing the passa'gesin the regu1'ator'55 for thepassage of the gas fuel to the burners 54.

7hile there has been described the use of an automatic gas fuel' controlwith my furnace, I do not intend thereby to limit myself since it is obvious that oil or coal maybe usedv as a metal heatin'g agent by It isalso desired to make clear` that, While 1 desoribe and show a main body1 and an intern'rediate bodyr 7, these two elements may be cast in onepiece. The intermediate body 7 and the melting pot 18 may also Very wellbe east as one piece.

I claim:

1. In a furnace for melting metal, a main body7 portion forn'iing acombustion chamber, and provided With an offset upper end defining afiange, an apertored, internally flanged intermediate body seated onsaid flange and provided With said offset upper end, a Chamber, amelting pot supportedby the fiange of said intermediate body anddepending into said main body portion, a cover for said main bodyportion, a plurality of sets of mixing elements within the melting pot,and means for rotating said mixing elements, one of said sets of mixingelements being so formed as tol raise the material being melted towardthe other set of miXing elements, and the latter set being adapted toforce said material toward the first mentioned set.

2. In a furnace for melting metal, a combustion Chamber, a melting potsupported therein, a cover and 'a plurality of sets of mxing elementsWithin said melting pot, means for rota-tng said sets of mixing`elements in opposite drections, one of said sets of mixing elementsbeing so formed as to force the material being melted toward the otherset of mixing elements and the latter set being1 so formed as to forcesaid material toWards the first mentioned set.

In testimony Whereof, I have signed'my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses.

i LEES HALLV lWitnesses J. MOMULLEN, THos. J. SEELEY.

